A gentleman wears beautiful socks (you can’t dress well and allow your ankles to look dull).
Reliable hosiery is harder to find compared to many other items of menswear–especially since many salesmen don’t know the difference between a pair of short socks and long socks. Somewhat surprisingly, socks can be de rigueur for aesthetic reasons as well as for practical reasons.
Bresciani stands out among the best of brands for both quality and style.
Cheaper socks disappoint because of poor fit, fading colours and short life. Aside from beautiful aesthetics, Bresciani has managed to improve durability with reinforced heels and toes in order to keep their socks reliable and comfortable. Colours do not lose their lustre and the socks hold snugly against the calves.
A strong reason for choosing Bresciani over other brands is the house style. Blends of colours and designs are unique. Patterns include stripes, houndstooth or polka dots, and each design adds a touch of originality while remaining wearable in a smart or business context.
The socks are not just “wearable” but provide advanced color combinations like blue and grey, brown and blue, and blue with red stripes and much more. These color combinations allow one to match socks with outfits in a creative, complex and subtle way.
We met co-owner Massimiliano Bresciani at a trunk-show hosted by our friends from Mes Chaussettes Rouges in Paris. He is an elegant and friendly person who knows his business inside out and is proudly intent on keeping the family name going and growing with an inventive and progressive approach.
The company was founded in 1970 by Massimiliano’s father, and has made socks for many (famous) brands. Today, Bresciani socks are made mainly under its own name and has evolved to become one of the foremost players in the world of socks for men.
“Our focus is on quality. We use 120 different yarns which may not make sense economically speaking, but it’s the house standard for the quality of our output. We design 200 models every year, with up to 30 colour combinations.
We work with every fabric : silk, cashmere, wool, cotton and blends with different weights to choose from in the selection. Our cotton comes from Egypt but it’s spun and dyed in Italy. Our quality control is efficient and demanding.”
“In Italy, socks usually mean long socks. Short socks are for kids. Elsewhere, people may not be used to knee-length socks, except sometimes in France, Japan and style-concerned customers in the USA. But even our short socks are a bit longer than usual!
I personally don’t like silk because I find it slippery. But the advantage of silk is that it has a strong insulating power and can be worn in summer or winter.”
“We still work with big brands–similar to our past work with Brioni. Usually these brands have their own design and we produce according to their demands. Some brands just want a little customisation. We also make special orders, sometimes for just one person.
We have a network of retailers around the world that we trust. We don’t sell online. We prefer to have a strong relationship with a professional retailer while we concentrate on production, which has always been our focus.
We only have two Bresciano shops in Moscow and Baku.”
“Since 1970, when the company was founded by my father, Bresciani has made socks. We’ve developed an underwear collection as well but keep it separate.
It’s a family business. We’re all from the same village, 12 kilometres from Bergamo. Most employees have a family connection. It’s important to have a business that you can pass on, rather than sell with a short-term goal.”
“The greatest danger today is to break the quality chain of supply. If one of our suppliers fold, then it becomes difficult for us to keep the same level of quality. Our production is certified environmental-friendly with very little waste and a lot of recycling.
We try to grow every year, and we do so at a constant and moderate pace. Our main goal is to find a balance between the best quality and the best price. Our customers are not stupid. They know what they’re getting and we can’t disappoint them.
Thanks to blogs and specialised websites we’re able to have a worldwide reputation and we don’t need to advertise so much.
But we have to keep our reputation strong, otherwise it can be gone in a minute. We rely mainly on retailers, our online reputation and on customer satisfaction.”
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Bresciani at Mes Chaussettes Rouges
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